For those who didn’t know, country fans take their jeans seriously — very seriously.
Case in point: The company, Wrangler, came under fire this week after launching a denim collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X, which is inspired by his hit song, “Old Town Road.”
Fans have started boycotting the American manufacturer, claiming “true cowboys” would never wear the new duds — or listen to Lil Nas X.
“This is how you lose customers,” wrote one person on Instagram.
“Went from cowboys to rappers,” another said.
Those who support the collab have called the outrage “racist” — with some social media users saying it’s only coming from “white people” and “rednecks.”
“You ppl are talking as if wrangler only make clothes for the ones who live that ‘cowboy’ lifestyle, grow tf up! there’s money to be made out here,” wrote one IG user.
“Thankyou for branching out with something different with your Wrangler Jeans line,” another person said on Twitter. “White folks don’t know the company that that owns Wrangler, owns alot of other clothing lines that black folks wear. P.S, black folks wear wranglers.”
Many people were sharing the angry posts on Wednesday in an attempt to gain support for Wrangler.
“WRANGLER JUST PARTNERED WITH LIL NAS X AND THE RACIST ARE MAD [sic],” tweeted user @tylerujazy, along with a photo showing some of the posts. “GO BUY UP ALL THE WRANGLER LIL NAS X COLLAB JEANS YOU CAN PEOPLE SUPPORT DIVERSITY.”
The new Wranglers — which are adorned with the lyrics “Wrangler on my booty” from “Old Town Road” — are currently available on the company’s website. The clothing giant now joins Levi, which got boycotted last year due to its stance on gun control, on the list of jean manufacturers to come under fire on social media.
“I’m SICK,” seethed one IG user. “I went all Wrangler when Levi went anti gun because wrangler was the true Cowboy brand… but of course they can’t stay true to their consumers and try to appease totally different audience that had to google what wrangler was…”
User @thomasoftheyear said, “If you have any sense, you’ll stop production and burn what’s left…I don’t buy anything made by Levi’s after their gun control stance. I’ll stop buying Wranglers just as quick for this nonsense.”
Wrangler did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday, but the company did offer a statement online saying: “Since 1947, we’ve offered jeans for a variety of wearers and occasions. Our western heritage and offering quality product for all wearers will always be the very heart of the brand.”
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